


Hanging Tree

by MaraMcGregor



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Dark, M/M, Young Chris Argent, Young Peter Hale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2015-06-30
Packaged: 2018-04-06 22:38:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4239252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaraMcGregor/pseuds/MaraMcGregor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris and Peter try to escape Beacon Hills and their families. Gerard is five steps ahead of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hanging Tree

**Author's Note:**

> This is very dark. I wrote it while I was heavily triggered. This is NOT okay. Be aware of the major character death warning. I cried while writing it. My beta cried while reading it. 
> 
> I was going to save this for Petopher Appreciation Week, but I was too excited by the premiere to let it pass by.
> 
> Lyrics are taken from the song The Hanging Tree.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They are the property of Jeff Davis and MTV.

_Are you … Are you … Coming to the tree?_

Chris wished he had had the time to stop Peter from coming. His father was happily sharpening his blade. His arms were tied around his back and he was fastened to a tree trunk, unable to move. The plan was to run away. Far away. To points unknown. But his father must have anticipated his actions. At first, he tried talking, anything to make noise and alert Peter to the fact that he wasn’t alone. But Gerard just taped his mouth shut.

He refused to give up, though. There were still several minutes before Peter arrived and if he didn’t show, then the only one dying tonight would be him. He could handle that. Chris wasn’t sure how Peter would take it, but Chris would be happy even if it bought him only one more day. He twisted his wrists in the bindings, but they held fast. His father knew that he could escape almost anything, but this was not a position he was able to get out of.

The tree was thick and knotted. His arms were stretched behind him and tied around the trunk. He couldn’t get a purchase on anything and the ropes were too tight for him to maneuver against the bark. Straining, he could barely turn his wrist, but it was enough to let his fingers tap against the tree. He had no clue if Peter knew Morse Code, but he was going to try.

_ Where the dead man called out, for his love to flee. _

Using his fingers, he tapped out a message. _Ambush. Don’t Come._ He kept repeating those few letters over and over, hoping that Peter’s sharp hearing would pick up on the repetition and realize something was wrong. The seconds seemed to stretch on for an eternity in the silence.

The hunters calmly stood, not moving a muscle, refusing to give away their positions. They knew what was in store for the Argent heir. To them, his dating a werewolf and planning escape was the worst type of treason. The only thing Chris could have done worse was to ask to be bitten. But, Peter loved Chris the way he was. And Talia wasn’t likely to turn a hunter’s child. It would invite death to her pack.

_ Are you … are you … Coming to the tree? _

Chris knew it hadn’t worked when a yelp, then scream echoed from the forest in the direction Peter would have been coming from. Tears of frustration gathered in his eyes as two hunters dragged a limp Peter down the ridge and tossed him on the ground at the base of the tree at Chris’ feet. His arms ached as he tugged against the bindings holding him fast.

Gerard stepped forward and nudged Peter with his boot. Glancing at his hunters he instructed, “Chain him up. Then tie him to the other tree so that he can see this traitor’s punishment.”

Metal links wrapped around Peter’s frame as they bound him to the opposite tree, keeping him in a seated position. Gerard kicked him in the stomach with a steel-toed boot. Peter grunted and lurched forward. When he looked up, his eyes widened in fear. Gerard was the last person he wanted to be the captive of. He felt his heart rate pick up and his eyes start to glow. It wasn’t much, but he might be able to get off a howl to his pack. He knew Talia might not come. She had told him that if he chose Chris over his pack that he would be considered an omega.

“Ah, ah, ah. No calling for your family.” Gerard squatted down and pulled out a syringe. “This will keep you from pulling any of your werewolf tricks.” He plunged the needle into Peter’s arm and pushed the contents in.

Peter yelled. His arm felt like it was on fire. He knew it had to be some variety of wolfsbane. He could almost trace the liquid as it forced it’s way up his arm and towards his heart. He didn’t realize that he had called out for Chris, but he must have when Gerard’s face pressed in tightly to his.

“That little traitor is right where he belongs.” Gerard stepped aside and let Peter see Chris tied to a tree, bruised and bleeding from several wounds on his face and neck.

Peter pulled on the chains, but his strength was gone, suppressed by the wolfsbane. “Chris!” He was relieved, momentarily, when Chris met his gaze. But the look of absolute devastation confirmed his worst fears. Peter would die here today, and it was looking like Chris would too.

“Since the party is all here. We should get started.” Gerard clapped his hands and rubbed them together, grinning psychotically at Peter. “Just so that we’re all clear about what is happening here, this is all in accordance with The Code. Christopher Argent, you have been accused and found guilty of treason against the Argent Family. You have conspired with the enemy and planned to desert your post. What do you have to say to these charges?”

Chris glared at his father.

“Oh, right. You can’t speak still.” Gerard ripped the duct tape off of his mouth, taking some stubble with it. “Answer the question, boy.”

“I didn’t commit treason or betray anyone. You betrayed The Code. You are too blinded by your bigotry and zealousness to see that they are people too. It’s why The Code is important. You can’t just kill people because they aren’t like you.”

Gerard’s face grew more and more stern. He sneered as Chris continued, disgust etched across his face. “You are not my son. How you ever were born into my family, I will never know. You are a disgrace. From this moment on, you are no longer an Argent. You will be buried like your wolf, in a burlap sack in the dirt with no marker. An animal. Just like that _beast_ that you care for more than your own heritage.”

He turned away from his son and picked up the broadsword laying on the ground. With a sweep of his arm he pointed it directly at Peter’s chest.

Chris’ struggles began anew, trying desperately to get between Gerard and Peter.

“You did this to him.” Gerard directed at Peter, taking one slow step towards the bound werewolf. “He was obedient before you got in his head. You cost me my son, as if you bit him yourself. The penalty is death. But, you won’t be so lucky as to be cut in half by my sword. You want my son so much? You can die like him.”

There were no words that would get him out of this mess. But he was never one to take things lying down. He would have his last words. “I didn’t cost you anything. Your mass murders that you try to justify and insane tests that would have killed someone lesser are what drove him from you. I was just there to pick up the pieces. Chris is a better man, a better human being than you could ever be. That’s why you’re determined to kill him. Because you know that he’d make a better leader and your men would be more likely to follow him than you. You’re terrified of losing control and your own personal army.”

Gerard screamed and swung the sword, striking the tree trunk just above Peter’s head. He left it embedded in the bark as he yelled to his men, “Get the rope!”

The hunters closest to Chris opened their duffle bags and pulled out two lengths of rope, both ending in nooses and swung them over the broadest limb connected to the tree he was tied to. The branch jutted out over the pond. Peter was well aware of how deceptively deep those waters were. They anchored the ropes to the trunk and stood back, waiting for further orders.

Gerard yanked on his sword and pulled it free. He bashed Peter’s temple with the pommel, knocking him unconscious and strode over to Chris. “Such a waste. At least your sister won’t let this family down.”

Kate came down from her position on the ridge and took the sword from her father. In one brutal move, she struck Chris on his temple, rendering him unconscious like Peter.

_ Wear a necklace of hope, side by side with me _

The hunters brought Chris and Peter roughly back to consciousness with a bucket of cold pond water in their faces. Their hands and ankles were tightly bound. Boxes wobbled underneath of them as they spluttered and tried to breathe.

Chris stared at Peter on the box next to his. He wished his hands were free so that he could at least touch him one last time. Peter’s eyes locked on his, blue eyes directly into blue eyes. He didn’t want the last thing he saw to be Gerard’s face. If he had to die, at least it was the boy he was willing to give it all up for anyway.

“Kate, take your place as the Argent matriarch. Make me proud.”

Kate sauntered over to the two young men standing precariously on boxes, nooses tied tightly around their throats. With a manic grin, she struck out at Peter’s box, kicking it deftly from underneath of him, followed by Chris’. They swung out over the pond, water inches below their toes, no purchase to be found.

Chris lost his breath first, spots dotted his vision followed by darkness. He knew Peter would soon meet him on the other side, he just wished that he wouldn’t have to suffer so much more before it happened.

Peter struggled against the rope. The wolfsbane prevented him from cutting himself and Chris loose, but he tried anyway. His fingers dug into the rope, but just left them bloody. His larynx closed and spots danced in his eyes, but his healing kicked in weakly, healing it just enough to let another breath through. He watched as Chris went limp. Every fiber of his being tried to swing over to him, their bodies just inches apart. Every movement tore at his neck a little bit more, his body eventually lost its ability to heal. Peter knew the moment Chris was gone, the emptiness in his chest complete with the fragile new pack bond broken. He stopped struggling, the will to live gone with Chris. Darkness edged in. He hoped Chris was waiting for him on the other side.

 

_Strange things did happen here_

_No stranger would it be_

_If we met at midnight_

_In the hanging tree._

 


End file.
